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Fight the Living/Episode 16: Smoke Rising
This is episode 8 of 8 of Fight the Living (2) Smoke Rising 9 months earlier With his arm now free, Merle jumped up and grabbed the toolbox. He continued to grunt and ramble as his stump bled. He looked over the side of the building to see a catwalk. He dropped the toolbox down. He sat over the edge. "Come on, Merle. You can do this." he said before dropping over the side. He screamed when he hit the catwalk. He quickly got up and limped as he broke the window and went back inside he building. Two walkers rushed towards him and he killed both with the wrench. He looked around and saw a Bunsen Burner in the kitchen. He dropped the wrench and ran in. He turned it on and paused for a second. "One...two...three." he said before quickly punching it with his stump. He screamed as loud as he could. After it was through, he picked up a pan and threw it at the window. He climbed out and went down into the streets of Atlanta. Present Day "Tyreese!" Michonne continued to shout. "He's gone." Merle said. She stopped shouting as walkers began to approach them. Merle killed one when it got too close. "Let's just head back. We'll just get Woodbury when they show up at the prison." "You think this was Woodbury?!" "Look, if you wanna go chase a bunch of assholes in the woods, be my guest! I'm goin' back to the prison." She killed a walker that had caught up to them. Michonne spoke one last time as Merle walked away. "You can drop the act." "What are you talking about?" he stopped and asked. "That you don't care. Whatever you were before...it doesn't matter. I know you're a good person. So why do you act like you're not?" He turned to her. "You don't know nothin' about me." he said coldly before turning and walking away. (Cue Opening Credits) Beth, Axel, and Sasha got out of the bus. "Are all of you sure you wanna go back?" Abraham asked as he sat in the driver's seat. "Yeah, we are." Beth assured him. "Alright. Good luck." he said before shutting the door and driving away. Sasha laid the cradle in the backseat in between Beth and Axel before getting in the front and driving off. It was dawn and the Governor was giving his last address to his people. "Today, we destroy. We do not fight. Fighting requires a certain amount of level-ground. But there won't be level-ground because we are going run over their fences, burn their field, and shoot every last one of them!" he shouted. They all loaded up in their cars, ready for the final battle. Sasha was nearing the prison when she saw Merle walking on the side of the road. She slowed down and rolled down the window. "'Need a ride?" she asked. "Sure." he replied before circling around and getting in the passenger's seat. They went over the hill and saw the prison fence. 9 months earlier Merle continued to move through the streets as walkers followed him. As they got closer he sped up. He finally broke out in a run and so did they. He finally got to a van parked close to the railroad. He looked through the windows and saw the keys. He opened the door, got in, and drove off just as the walkers caught up. Present Day The car drove in the gates that Andrea and Haley had just opened up. They all got out of the car and began to unload. "You came back." Andrea said. "It took a lot of persuasion." Beth replied. "Wait, did you guys already take down Woodbury?" "No. They got me and Rick." she said while pointing at her bruised head. "Is Rick okay?" Axel asked. "He was hit right in the stomach. He would've died if Lilly hadn't pulled him inside." Haley said. "Where's Tyreese?" Sasha asked. "He went with Michonne and Merle to get Woodbury while their guard was down." Morgan said. "So maybe you should ask Merle." They all looked at him. "We got jumped in the middle of the night. They took Tyreese and Michonne went chasing after 'em." Merle told them. "You expect me to believe that?!" Sasha shouted. "You're gonna have to." he replied coldly. Andrea changed the subject. "We need to get ready. Rick isn't getting any better and Michonne may not even get back." she said. "Everybody needs to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. Have a weapon on you and...live today like it might be your last. Or tomorrow or the day after that because we don't know when Woodbury will attack again. I'll keep watch, the rest of you go tie up your loose ends." They all gave her a knowing look as headed inside. Beth headed straight for the infirmary. Morgan grabbed a rifle and went in the other tower across from Andrea. Haley went to the gym. Axel sat down in a lawn chair and looked out at the graves in the field. Sasha grabbed her shovel and said, "Cover me." to Andrea. Andrea understood as Sasha opened the gate and started taking out walkers. She wasn't paying enough attention and was nearly bitten when a blade went through the walker's head. She turns to see that Merle had joined her. Beth walked through the infirmary door. "You're back!" Carl exclaimed. Beth remained serious and walked straight over to Rick. "Do you mind giving me some alone time, Carl?" she asked. "Umm, okay. But Alice has to stay in here with him." Alice spoke up. "I'm sorry, Carl. But there's nothing else I can do. He's in God's hands now." she said before exiting the room. Carl looked at his father one last time before following Alice outside. "I'm sorry for what I did." Beth said as she looked at an unconscious Rick. "I shouldn't've done what I did. I promise that if you don't make it through this, I'll take care of Judith." She turned and left. Milton was in the gym watching the captive walker wonder in circles when Haley walked in with her bow. "Any progress?" she asked. He had a very bored and disappointed look. "Just shoot the damn thing. Andrea was right, there's nothing else we can learn from these things that we don't already know." She aimed her bow at the walker as she spoke. "You could be wrong. We still don't really know anything about them." She shot it. "'Just how they die." "Which is why I'm useless. I need to learn how shoot. Then I could actually contribute." Milton said as he started walking out. "That's not true." Haley said before he shut the door behind him. Haley was going to go pick up the walker and prop it up against the wall to continue her target practice when Beth walked in. "So how are you doing on your last day?" she asked. "Better than Milton, apparently." "Yeah, I noticed he seemed in a bad mood when he walked by." "He thinks he's useless just because he can't fight. I'm not saying he shouldn't learn how to fight, but he's not useless. What did you want, Beth?" "Just thought I'd come talk to someone." "Why did you bring the baby back?" "She needed to be back with her father." "Right, you and Rick have definitely gotten close." "Hey, I was going through a hard time! An so was he! Besides, I don't even think I like boys now..." Haley gave her an odd look. "You think you're a lesbian." "It kinda makes sense. I seem to only get attracted to guys because it feels normal. Rick was the only one I was ever with, you know." "Look..." Haley paused for a moment. "We're supposed to live like it's our last day, right?" "Yeah..." Haley paused again. "Just go lock the door first." Beth understood and obeyed. Lilly propped another lawn chair up next to Axel. "I don't think we've ever been formerly introduced." she said before sitting down. "I haven't really been around, you follow me?" "True. But I've heard lots of stories about the rest of you." "You're uncle was real worried about you after you we left." he said. "Yeah, I figured. I'll be alright. Why did you come back?" "This place...is my home. A captain always goes down with his ship, you follow me?" "Yeah. I get it. I almost did go down a sinking ship during the early days, but my friend grabbed me just in time." Their conversation was cut short as they heard the rumbling noise coming over the hills again. Everyone outside loaded and pointed their guns. "Run inside and tell the others!" Lilly ordered Axel. He ran in quickly as the Woodbury caravan got closer. "Why are they still driving?" Andrea asked herself. Their jaws dropped as the tank started running over the fences. "Shit!" Andrea shouted before firing at the cars. Morgan ran down the staircase and shouted at the rest of them. "Come on! This isn't safe, we have to go inside!" Andrea stayed in the tower and continued to shoot as they began to get out of their cars. She shot one while the rest began to fire back. Andrea ducked down. The tower door opened and Lilly grabbed her. "Come on! Keep moving!" Morgan shouted as they moved through the halls to escape through the back of the prison. They saw the doors rattling and heard groans coming from the other side. Haley and Milton opened the doors only to see a herd on the other side. "Go back!" Morgan shouted. They all turned and ran as fast as they could. Carl stopped at the infirmary door. He opened it, turned the lock and shut it quickly. They ran outside to see bullets flying as Andrea and Lilly headed straight back inside. "Turn around, we have to go!" Axel shouted. They all split up and went in different directions. Carl, Morgan, Haley, and Beth went one way. Beth was carrying Judith in her arms. The Governor shot at them and hit Beth's arm. Beth fell and Judith was dead. She sat there, traumatized. Haley immediately was shot dead on the spot. Carl tried to pick Beth up but was too small. "Cover me!" Morgan shouted as he picked Beth and started running. Carl shot one, two, and three soldiers before getting away. Sasha, Milton, and Axel headed towards the field and Milton was shot in the leg. He screamed and fell to the ground. Axel stopped to help and Sasha shouted at him. "Come on! We have to go!" Axel was shot in the head and fell on top of Milton. Sasha turned to go help but was shot as well. The Governor walked up to Milton. "Traitor." he said before killing him. Lilly, Andrea, Alice, and Merle ran to the opposite side that Carl's group had gone. Merle turned to see the Governor shooting Milton and broke off from the group. Alice ran out of breath and slowed down only to be shot. Andrea tripped and Lilly stopped to help her while two Woodbury soldiers aimed to kill. Both soldiers were shot and Lilly and Andrea looked to see Glenn and Maggie shooting from the inside of the bus. "Get in!" Glenn shouted. Andrea and Lilly started running to them when a car ran straight into the side of the bus. Hershel looked outside of the window to see that it had started raining. "There's no point in that." Carol said. "What else am I supposed to do? I don't care if they're gone for two years. I'll still just keep staring out this window." "They'll make it back just fine. Glenn and Maggie always do." "And Beth?" "She made it all the way here by herself." "Against walkers. Not people." "Woodbury might've already been beaten while she was here. They could come out here to tell us everything is fine tomorrow." Hershel turned with a red face. "Fine?! Look at my leg! No one gets out just fine! I'm a useless old man and my daughters are probably getting shot, raped, or eaten! If not now it's only a matter of time!" "Hershel, please." Carol tried to calm him down. He began to cry as he sat down on his bed. "Rick should've just let me die when I got bit. It would've saved me the trouble of having to keep on keeping on." Carol lifted his head and looked him in the eyes. "Not everything has to be bad." she said. She kissed him and they both fell over onto the bed. Andrea and Lilly ran to the bus and climbed inside to see a distraught Maggie standing over Glenn. "Wake up." she said over and over. "Maggie, we have to go now." Andrea said. "No, we can't leave him." "Maggie, he's gone." Andrea started to get more uneasy as walkers started coming from all directions towards the prison. "Andrea." Lilly tried to get her to hurry. Andrea finally just grabbed Maggie. Lilly grabbed her as well and dragged her out of the bus. Her leg was bleeding badly. "No! We can't leave him! Glenn!" she shouted as they went into the forest. "Wait!" Lilly said before turning and pulling out matches from her pocket. She lit one and threw it back, causing fire to spread across in all directions. Walkers poured out the doors of the prison and began attacking the Woodbury army. The Governor looked on in horror and saw that his people were being overwhelmed. A stray gunshot hit him in his left shoulder and he fell over. He left his sword behind and started crawling towards the treeline. He felt something step on his leg. "Now where did you think you were goin'?" Merle said. "Merle. I'm so sorry. Please help me." the Governor pleaded desperately. "You ever see that movie, The Crow? No? Well, you see, in the movie, there's this guy who gets killed by a bunch 'a thugs and dies. Then he comes back from the grave and kills every last one of them." 9 months earlier Merle stopped the van and jumped out. He propped himself against the side. He pulled a pistol out from his pocket. He saw a crow come and land on the ground next to him. Present Day "You see, the legend behind it is that the crow carries the soul to the other side. Be it good or bad." 9 months earlier Merle put the gun to his head. A car pulled up and a man got out. It was Philip. He extended his hand to Merle. Present Day Merle pointed his pistol at his head. "Tell me, Gov'ner, do you hear that bird?" BLAM! Merle began to turn when a walker bit his wrist. He killed it immediately. He looked at the herd in front of the prison. He remembered that Carl had locked the door to the infirmary. Rick was still alive. "You better write a damn good ballad about me, Officer Friendly." he said before heading straight back. He stepped on the Governor's sword. He put the pistol back in his pocket and picked up the sword with his other hand. He walked straight into the herd. He killed five before getting bitten on the shoulder. He killed that one and two more before having I stop. He stayed in one place as he killed three more. One jumped at him and he fell over. It bit his arm before he killed it. He threw it off quickly before another could pile on top of him. He killed two more before he finally just started pushing and kicking them out of the way. One crawled over and bit his ankle. He screamed that time before stomping its head in. He dropped the sword and pulled out his pistol. He shot five more before finally getting to the door. He went inside and shot the few that were still in the front cell block. He shut the door quickly behind him and chained it up. He shambled through the hallways, shooting any walker that he saw. He finally got to the back door of the prison to see one walker left. He pointed and tried to shoot but he was out of bullets. It noticed him and came at him. He fell over and it bit his neck. He threw it off of him and sunk his blade through its head. He got up and slowly made his way to the door. He shut one door but couldn't find his strength to keep going. He fell to the ground, smiled, and closed his eyes. Carl, Morgan, and Beth watched and cried as they saw the smoke rising above the forest. Andrea, Lilly, and Maggie did the same a mile away. Michonne came out of the forest to see the destroyed prison. And inside the prison, Rick finally woke up. He coughed and coughed. "Carl? Andrea? Michonne? Lilly? Beth?" He got up and fell on the floor he slowly picked himself up. Rick picked his Colt Python off of the table. He unlocked the door and opened it. "No..." he said as he looked down the hallway to see several slain walkers. He saw Merle laying dead on the floor. "No. No. No." he said over and over. "Carl! Carl!" (End Credits) Like? Like Dislike 'Deaths' Judith Grimes Haley Axel Sasha Alice Stevens Glenn Rhee The Governor Merle Dixon Milton Mamet Category:Fight the Living Category:Fight the Living Issues Category:Issues